Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius, is scheduled to appear in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 13.
He faces multiple serious charges, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and market manipulation.
Judge Orders Mashinsky to Present Arguments in Court
According to an October 23 filing, Judge John Koeltl has ordered Mashinsky and prosecutors in the case to present arguments regarding his motion to dismiss certain charges in his indictment and to “preserve testimony.”
In addition to the November 13 hearing, a pretrial conference has been set for January 16, with a jury trial scheduled to begin on January 28, 2025.
The upcoming court appearance follows a motion by the former CEO’s legal team in September. The filing sought testimony from six witnesses who reside outside the United States, including former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon.
Mashinsky’s attorneys argue that these individuals ignored his instructions to sell Celsius’s native token, CEL, instead purchasing additional tokens on the FTX exchange throughout 2021.
This will be the 59-year-old’s first in-person court appearance since February, when he attended a Curcio hearing related to potential conflicts of interest because his lawyers also represented FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in a separate case.
Legal Charges
Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon are accused of manipulating the price of CEL while secretly selling their holdings at inflated prices. The former reportedly profited approximately $42 million from the sale of these tokens.
The two also allegedly misled customers about the company’s success and profitability and the nature of the investments made using customer funds.
In July 2023, the Celsius ex-boss was arrested and charged with seven felony counts. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently fighting them in court. He is also facing civil suits brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Meanwhile, Cohen-Pavon initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea to guilty and is scheduled for sentencing on December 11. Following his arrest, he faced travel restrictions that limited his movement between New York and Israel.
Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. As of August 2024, the company had repaid approximately $2.53 billion owed to creditors. According to a filing, the figure represents about 84% of the $3 billion the defunct crypto platform needs to return to more than 375,000 claimants.
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